Republican News

Republican News

Oct202000

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Late Thursday night, the Senate passed by unanimous consent five measures, three of which were amended to include the text of various Energy Committee bills. Three of those provisions were sponsored by Chairman Frank H. Murkowski. Inserted into H.R. 898 was S. 501, the Glacier Bay National Park Resource Management Act of 1999. The bill, sponsored by Senator Frank H. Murkowski, requires the Secretary of the Interior to allow commercial fishing in the outer waters of the Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. This would be done in accordance with a management plan to be developed by the Secretary and the State of Alaska. The measure also requires the Secretary to develop and report biennially to specified congressional committees on a comprehensive multi-agency research and monitoring program.
The program would evaluate the health of fisheries resources in the Park's marine waters to determine the effect, if any, of commercial fishing on the productivity, diversity, and sustainability of fishery resources in such waters and park resources and value. The legislation directs the Secretary of Interior to study and report to specified congressional committees any legislative recommendations concerning sea gulls living within the Park, assessing whether their eggs can be collected on a limited basis without impairing the sea gull population's biological sustainability.
The second Murkowski provision in H.R. 898 would review the suitability and feasibility of recovering costs of high altitude rescues at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. This provision is identical to S. 698 , and would direct the Secretary of the Interior to report on recovering the costs of high altitude rescues on Mt. McKinley, within Denali National Park and Preserve. The bill also requires climbers to provide proof of medical insurance prior to the issuance of a climbing permit by the National Park Service. The legislation addresses the amount of fees charged for a climbing permit, and would make any appropriate recommendations for changing the fee structure.
Another provision identical to S. 2511 creates a new National Heritage Area in Alaska. The provision inserted into H.R. 150 would establish the National Heritage Area in the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm corridor outside of Anchorage. The National Heritage designation is especially significant for Alaska because it involves no new land acquisition by the National Park Service, yet allows the residents of the Heritage Area to celebrate and remember their national and cultural history.
Additionally text of legislation sponsored by Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) helping a Montana school district was approved by the Senate in H.R. 3023. This provision is identical to S. 1218 and would reverse a bureaucratic oversight and would provide the Landusky School District with full title to the two plots of land that they have occupied for almost 100 years. The Landusky School District was promised the land in 1960 under an earlier land swap between the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Through an administrative oversight though, the transaction never took place.
The following bills as amended were approved by the Senate:
1. H.R. 898 - (Rep. Scott McInnis R-Colo.) Designates certain land in the San Isabel National Forest in the State of Colorado as the "Spanish Peaks Wilderness,” amended with:
S.1367 - (Sen. Frank H. Murkowski R-Alaska) Amends Federal law which established the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in New Hampshire to expand Site boundaries; and increase the authorization of appropriations for Site activities.
S. 748 - (Sen. Frank H. Murkowski R-Alaska) A bill to improve Native hiring and contracting by the Federal Government within the State of Alaska.
S. 2865 - (Sen. Charles Robb D-Virginia.) A bill to designate certain land of the National Forest System located in the State of Virginia as wilderness.
S 938 - (Sen. Daniel Akaka D-Hawaii) A bill to eliminate restrictions on the acquisition of certain land contiguous to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and for other purposes.
S. 2751 - (Sen. Harry Reid D-Nev.) A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the Interior, in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and California
S. 2485 - (Sen. Susan Collins R-Maine) A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in planning and constructing a regional heritage center in Calais, Maine.
S. 1670 - (Sen. Robert Graham D-Florida)Revises the boundary of Fort Matanzas National Monument in Florida to add approximately 70 acres.
A provision directing the Secretary of Interior to acquire by donation suitable land to serve as the new location for the home of Alexander Hamilton, commonly known as the Hamilton Grange, and to authorize the relocation of the Hamilton Grange to the acquired land.
2. H.R. 3023 - (Rep. Edward Pastor D-Ariz.) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to convey property to the Greater Yuma Port Authority of Yuma County, Arizona, for use as an international port of entry, amended with:
H.R. 4345 - (Rep. Don Young R- Alaska) Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to clarify the process of allotments to Alaskan Natives who are veterans.
H.R. 2932 - (Rep. James Hansen R-Utah) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the Golden Spike/Crossroads of the West National Heritage Area Study Area and to establish the Crossroads of the West Historic District in the State of Utah.
S. 2273 - (Sen. Richard Bryan D-Nev.) A bill to establish the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area.
S. 1894 - (Sen. Craig Thomas R-Wyo.) A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain land to Park County, Wyoming.
S. 1705 - (Sen. Larry Craig R-Idaho ) A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into land exchanges to acquire from the private owner and to convey to the State of Idaho approximately 1,240 acres of land near the City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho
S. 1296 - (Sen. Frank Lautenberg - New Jersey) A bill to designate portions of the lower Delaware River and associated tributaries as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
H.R. 468 - (Rep. Dale Kildee D-Mich.) Establishes the Saint Helena Island National Scenic Area.
S. 2977 - (Sen. Dianne Feinstein D-Calif.) A bill to assist in the establishment of an interpretive center and museum in the vicinity of the Diamond Valley Lake in southern California to ensure the protection and interpretation of the paleontology discoveries made at the lake and to develop a trail system for the lake for use by pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles.
S. 2020 - (Sen. Thad Cochran R-Missip.) A bill to adjust the boundary of the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi.
3. H.R. 150 - (Rep. J.D. Hayworth R-Ariz.) To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey National Forest System lands for use for educational purposes, amended with:
S. 700 - (Sen. Daniel Akaka D-Hawaii) A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Ala Kahakai Trail as a National Historic Trail
S. 2279 - (Sen. Barbara Boxer D-Calif.) A bill to authorize the addition of land to Sequoia National Park.
S. 2848 - (Sen. Jeff Bingaman D-New Mex.) A bill to provide for a land exchange to benefit the Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico.
S. 2638 - (Sen. Thad Cochran R-Missip.) A bill to adjust the boundaries of the Gulf Islands National Seashore to include Cat Island, Mississippi.
S. 2300 - (Sen. Craig Thomas R-Wyo.) A bill to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the maximum acreage of Federal leases for coal that may be held by an entity in any one State.
S. 762 - (Sen. Bob Graham D-Florida) A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the national significance of the Miami Circle site in the State of Florida as well as the suitability and feasibility of its inclusion in the National Park System as part of Biscayane National Park
H.R. 4312 - (Rep. Nancy Johnson R-Conn.) To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the suitability and feasibility of establishing an Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area in the State of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
S. 2345 - (Sen. Charles Schumer D-New York) A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study concerning the preservation and public use of sites associated with Harriet Tubman located in Auburn, New York.
S. 2478 - (Sen. Daniel Akaka D-Hawaii) A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a theme study on the peopling of America.
S. 710 - (Sen. Trent Lott R-Missip.) A bill to authorize the feasibility study on the preservation of certain Civil War battlefields along the Vicksburg Campaign Trail.
S. 134 - (Sen. Russell Feingold D-Wisc.) A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study whether the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore should be protected as a wilderness area.
S. 610 - (Sen. Michael Enzi R-Wyo.) A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management in Washakie County and Big Horn County, Wyoming, to the Westside Irrigation District, Wyoming.
A provision to amend the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Development Act to extend the life of the C&O Canal Commission by ten years, until January 8, 2011.
A provision calling for a resource study of the approximately 600 mile route used by General George Washington and French General Rochambeau during the Revolutionary War. The route passes through the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
4. HR 3657 - (Rep. Mary Bono R-Calif.) To provide for the conveyance of a small parcel of public domain land in the San Bernardino National Forest in the State of California.
5. HR 4835 - (Rep. James Moran D-Virginia) To authorize the exchange of land between the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of Central Intelligence at the George Washington Memorial Parkway in McLean, Virginia.
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